Dear Madam

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Mrs Margot McClure (Impartial Reporter 12th Nov). But a memory of her did bring a smile to my face.

Some years ago I was tasked (as a police officer) to a traffic accident outside Kesh. A lorry had collided with a car at a junction. The car had then gone off the road, and hit a stone wall. I was expecting to find serious injuries – or worse.

I was instead approached by the driver of the car; a frail looking elderly lady. Her only concern was that she had to get to a bridge tournament in Donegal – the lady was Margot McClure.

I checked her licence, and was taken aback to see her place/date of birth as: London 1916.

I drove her home, and she filled me in on some of the details of her life.

Amongst other things – she had been a WAAF in WW2. She had been a driver for some of the military top brass, and had chauffeured Arthur 'Bomber' Harris (controversial chief of RAF Bomber Command) around London during the Blitz.

On arriving home she immediately rang a friend to ask for a lift to the bridge tournament. I then had to sadly decline an offer of a glass of red from her drinks table. She seemed to have simply dismissed the accident as a petty inconvenience. There was not one complaint of injury; nor did she try to shift blame on to the other driver.

I avoided mentioning the fact that she was so tiny she had to sit on a cushion to see out the windscreen!

One of the 'old breed'.

Name and address supplied